A day across the whole world
This view lays the meridians side by side on a flat map. The night shadow and gold midnight line move west, showing how different places share one instant but read different local times.
The Turning Earth
Ribbon: the world laid flat
Watch the night shadow and gold midnight line sweep west across a flat world map, with 24 Sidereal Clocks marking their meridians. Replay 31 March 2026 to watch every sky hand point straight up at its own midnight.
The Earth from space. The dusk line sweeps in from the left and the gold arc marks midnight: each clock strikes its own midnight as the arc crosses it, and on 31 March 2026 every Crux hand reads exactly zero at that moment. Clocks over the edge of the Earth fade until it turns them back into view.
Both poles at once: the same Earth, the same moment, turning clockwise beneath the Southern Cross and anticlockwise beneath Polaris.
The Earth as a clock face, seen from above one pole, with the Sun held at the top and midnight at the bottom.
The world laid flat. The night shadow and the gold midnight line sweep west across the map, and each clock strikes its own midnight as the line passes beneath it, reading exactly zero on 31 March 2026.
Follow the gold line
Each clock sits above its calibrated meridian. As the midnight line passes beneath it, the gold halo marks its local midnight. Select that clock to inspect its standard time and sky-hand angle.
Twenty-four calibrated meridians
Each time zone is represented by a midnight-zero meridian and a real geographic location. These are reference meridians for the clock calibration, rather than a map of political time-zone boundaries.
Replay one complete relay
Choose Replay 31 March 2026 to follow the sequence from Fiji towards Alaska. Each sky hand reaches zero at its own midnight ending 31 March. Standard time is used throughout; daylight saving does not alter the calibration.
The 24 midnight-zero meridians
Listed in the order midnight reaches them. Latitude never moves the hand, so each place is a real spot on its meridian. Your zone is highlighted.
| Zone | Meridian | Latitude | Place on the meridian | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTC+12 | 178.7214° E | 17.70° S | Off Ovalau, Fiji | At sea, ~1.7 km off the west coast of Ovalau. |
| UTC+11 | 163.6804° E | 19.70° S | Belep Islands, New Caledonia | |
| UTC+10 | 148.6393° E | 33.00° S | Cumnock, New South Wales | Reference anchor: Parkes Observatory latitude, 35 km due east of the dish. |
| UTC+9 | 133.5982° E | 34.58° N | Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, Japan | The observatory dome is ~350 m west of the meridian. |
| UTC+8 | 118.5572° E | 32.07° N | Nanjing (Pukou), China | |
| UTC+7 | 103.5161° E | 13.41° N | Siem Reap Province, Cambodia | |
| UTC+6 | 88.4750° E | 24.37° N | Paba, Rajshahi, Bangladesh | |
| UTC+5 | 73.4340° E | 33.90° N | Murree, Pakistan | |
| UTC+4 | 58.3929° E | 23.59° N | Muscat (Bawshar), Oman | |
| UTC+3 | 43.3518° E | 43.49° N | Nizhny Chegem, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia | |
| UTC+2 | 28.3108° E | 25.75° S | Pretoria (Mamelodi), South Africa | |
| UTC+1 | 13.2697° E | 52.52° N | Berlin (Charlottenburg), Germany | |
| UTC+0 | 1.7714° W | 51.17° N | Amesbury, Wiltshire (by Stonehenge) | |
| UTC−1 | 16.8125° W | 28.30° N | Santiago del Teide, Tenerife | No UTC-1 land on this meridian; the Canaries keep UTC+0. |
| UTC−2 | 31.8535° W | 72.58° N | Greenland ice sheet | |
| UTC−3 | 46.8946° W | 23.19° S | Jundiai, Sao Paulo, Brazil | |
| UTC−4 | 61.9357° W | 16.24° S | Concepcion, Santa Cruz, Bolivia | |
| UTC−5 | 76.9767° W | 38.90° N | Washington, D.C. | |
| UTC−6 | 92.0178° W | 30.22° N | Lafayette, Louisiana | |
| UTC−7 | 107.0589° W | 38.55° N | Gunnison County, Colorado | |
| UTC−8 | 122.0999° W | 37.39° N | Mountain View, California | |
| UTC−9 | 137.1410° W | 58.66° N | Mount Crillon, Fairweather Range, Alaska | |
| UTC−10 | 152.1821° W | 16.44° S | Off Maupiti, French Polynesia | At sea, ~5 km east of Maupiti reef. |
| UTC−11 | 167.2231° W | 53.60° N | Unalaska Island, Alaska | No UTC-11 land on this meridian; Alaska keeps UTC-9. |